Daijiworld Media Network - Sacramento

Sacramento, Nov 13: California will revoke 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses issued to immigrants after federal officials raised concerns that people without legal status may have improperly received credentials to drive semitrucks and buses.

However, Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration insists the decision was not politically driven but rather due to a technical issue — the licenses were found to have expiration dates extending beyond the holders’ authorized stay in the U.S., according to the California State Transportation Agency.

The move comes after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, a Trump appointee, launched a nationwide audit of commercial driver’s licenses. The probe followed a series of deadly crashes, including one in Florida where a driver in the U.S. illegally made a U-turn, killing three people. Fatal truck collisions in Texas, Alabama, and California have intensified scrutiny of state licensing practices.

Duffy has accused California of improperly issuing licenses to noncitizens and called the revocation an admission of wrongdoing. “After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed,” Duffy said. “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
He also announced financial penalties, revoking $40 million in federal funding and threatening to withhold another $160 million unless California invalidates every improperly issued license and enforces stricter verification standards.

In response, Newsom’s office strongly rejected Duffy’s claims. Spokesman Brandon Richards said all affected drivers had valid federal work authorizations, accusing Duffy of spreading “easily disproven falsehoods in a desperate attempt to please his dear leader.”

Under Duffy’s new federal rules, announced in September, commercial driver’s licenses will be restricted to holders of just three types of visas — H-2A, H-2B, and E-2 — and must be verified through a federal immigration database. The licenses will be valid for up to one year or until a visa expires, whichever comes first.

Those changes, which are not retroactive, mean about 190,000 of 200,000 noncitizen truckers nationwide will be allowed to keep their current licenses until renewal. But the new rules are expected to significantly reduce future eligibility.

California officials said they were following Department of Homeland Security guidance when the 17,000 licenses were issued. The affected drivers have been notified that their licenses will expire within 60 days.

The standoff underscores the growing tension between California’s immigration-friendly policies and the Trump administration’s hardline federal oversight, as both sides trade blame over road safety, state authority, and immigration enforcement.